The various embodiments described herein generally relate to positioning items. More particularly, the various embodiments relate to a method for equally spacing items within handling systems. The handling system may include applications in postal automation with the items to be spaced being mail containers and the like.
In various applications, for example, article handling systems, the throughput and the efficiency of article handling systems may be substantially improved if more than one article is handled simultaneously. For example, a stationary processing station may pick up several articles, at the same time, from a conveying system transporting the articles to the processing station. Some systems require that the articles are equally spaced from each other to enable simultaneous handling. In these systems, the conveying system may have platforms, slots or containers, which do not move with respect to each other and are equally spaced, to transport the articles. In other systems, the conveying system may have a plurality of transport devices that move independently from each other on a track system to and from the processing station. The transport devices may be individually controlled to provide for the required equal spacing of the article carrying platforms, slots or containers at the processing station. This, however, may be time consuming and requires more effort and, as such, slow down the handling process.